Egypt’s Journalists Syndicate is to send the final version of the unified draft law on regulating press and media to the Prime Ministry Sunday, said Syndicate’s member Alaa Thabet Thursday.
Thabet stated after a syndicate meeting with Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab Thursday that the new regulations reflect the syndicate’s obligation towards the constitution’s articles related to press freedom and others.
Moreover, Mahlab promised the head of Journalists Syndicate Yehia Qallash to supply journalists’ families suffering from Hepatitis C with medication and referred the matter to the Minister of Health Adel Adawi.
Mahlab met Qallash and the members of Journalists Syndicate Thursday and tackled a number of issues, included low salaries, medical services, housing and training.
In July, The Journalists Syndicate rejected new “restrictions” imposed on press freedoms by a draft anti-terrorism law awaiting ratification form President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, according to a statement.
The syndicate called on the government to reconsider article 33 of the draft law, as it stipulates a minimum of a two-year sentence for those who report false news or information about any “terrorist attacks” that contradict official data.
“Article 33 restricts a journalist’s right to collect information from different sources, limiting him to one source; a setback for freedom of opinion, publication and expression,” said the statement.
The said article makes the executive authority a censor on the press and its freedom and a criterion for the truth, restraining all the rights guaranteed by the law for journalists.
The syndicate added that it supports the state in its “war against terror,” emphasizing that it would not succeed through “the confiscation of rights,” rather by considering the society as a main partner in countering radicalism and violence.
